If we are to expect anything at all from the dying months of George W Bush’s lamest of lame duck presidencies, look to Israel/Palestine. Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, has been spending an increasing amount of time in the region, and Bush, the first president to explicitly endorse the goal of an independent Palestinian state, may feel that his middle eastern legacy could do with some bucking up.
Is a deal likely? Two-state-solution optimists often point to the fact that in opinion polls, a large majority of Israelis say they support the idea of an independent Palestinian state. And almost two thirds even want their government to talk to Hamas—a proposal which would probably kill stone dead any of the three remaining presidential candidacies.
Yet dig beneath the surface and you find that in many cases, the support of Israelis for Palestinian independence probably has more to do with a desire to rid themselves of their troublesome neighbours than a commitment to their political rights. Two thirds of Jewish Israelis say the border between Israel and an independent Palestine should be closed. Two thirds say they wouldn’t want to live in the same building as an Arab, and half would not even let an Arab into their home.
This widespread antipathy of Israeli Jews towards Arabs is reflected in the rise of Beitar Jerusalem FC, who have just won the Israeli title for the second consecutive season. Beitar’s fans, particularly the “La Familia” ultras, are notorious for their anti-Arab racism and their hostility towards accommodation with the Palestinians. Yet these attitudes, as David Goldblatt reports in the new issue of Prospect, are if anything spreading beyond the Beitar terraces.
The irony of the whole business with Beitar is that their supporters, especially the hooligans known as “La Familia”, behave in just the same thuggish way as the S.A. behaved towards the Jews in Germany. Even more worrying is the racist attitudes and reasons why most Israelis want a two-state solution on Israel’s terms only, with the so-called Palestinian state a series of “Bantustans”.
Even so, the Israeli regime’s refusal to negotiate, and and to chip away at Palestinian land with their illegal settlements, leads one to the conclusion that their real aim is to effect total ethnic cleansing on the West Bank by making Palestinians lives completely intolerable. Since we know that many strands of Zionist ideology also claim Transjordan, one can only assume that a successful ethnic cleansing of the West Bank will lead to further expansionism by Israel, just like Hitler with his ‘final territorial claims’. Of course a boody war would ensue, partly due to Israel’s confidence in its own military prowess. It helps that this has been dented somewhat by Hezbollah.
..very depressing
behavior like that invites contempt for Israel and Jews
you do not have to love the Arabs, but they should be treated with common respect and courtesy..
…not for them, but for us
one hour of these ugly demonstrations, reinforce their murderous hatred..nothing is gained
I’m shocked that it took so long to have the beginnings of an Israeli backlash against the Arabs who have been trying to murder and ethnically cleanse them for so long.
Yes, depressing article. But also important that Beitar ultras not be taken as typical of Israeli society, any more than Rangers ultras should be taken as typical of Scottish society. They represent an extreme (ultra) version of attitudes that may be widespread, but are not the norm.
Also depressing that people take the actions of a few as “inviting contempt” for a whole nation. Surely most of us should be smart enough not to have contempt for all Jews because some Jews are disgusting?
And depressing that some people (i.e. Anon Mous) think that these Beitar fans are acceptable.